Yo-Yo Lin’s Resilience Journal is a seminal influence in the formation of the Soft Data/Base, as Lin, a disabled artist, introduces the project, “As those who sustain an illness/ disability, we often have a biodata footprint– where our health is quantified by medical practitioners through various medical tests and procedures. Instead of just focusing on the biodata of our illness, I am particularly interested in tracking the data that is usually overlooked in the experience of living with illness– the everyday, hard-to-grasp, “soft” data sets that are much more like poetry.” The journal, which Lin disseminates in multiple formats, is a tool for recording and tracking qualitative data across custom categories, resulting in hand-colored radial grids accompanied by diaristic entries on opposite pages.

A note from the artist: The Resilience Journal was always intended to bridge the language gaps we have when it comes to experiencing and talking about illness. Creating a slow process to write and draw and reflect allowed me to grow a new understanding of my body, one that allowed me to develop a language for the hard-to-describe experiences of my day-to-day. Being able to articulate these experiences to myself and others has shaped my understanding of how to move through the world: advocating for myself and others in a largely ableist world.

Since its release in 2019, Resilience Journal has taken on a life of its own. Through presentations, gallery shows, workshops, university curriculum, physical books, digital downloads and word-of-mouth, RJ has landed in the hands of over a thousand individuals interested in creating a framework for tracking their soft illness data. What started as a personal journaling ritual for me to better understand my chronic illness grew into a small international movement for self-understanding and solidarity-building. During the pandemic, RJ was used by patients in the hospital to advocate for better care, and continues to be utilized by those with long Covid as a way to track energy levels and symptoms. At NYU, students studied RJ to create their own soft data frameworks for self-care and building an embodied practice with technology. To this day, RJ continues to be utilized as a free, open-source tool for self-knowledge, inspiring projects such as Soft Data/Base.